Friday, June 25, 2010

Need a vase, partial set of dishes or maybe a TV stand?

Bill and I have been working around the house, sorting through our accumulation of "stuff" and getting rid of lots of things we no longer use, need or have room for. I can't believe some of the items I've hung on to - many for years and years! Hopefully, we are doing our kids a favor so they won't have quite as much to sort through when the time comes - and they won't have the burden of deciding what to do with the pretty blue candy dish with the crack and the missing lid that belonged to some long-gone ancestor, or those size 6, 8 and 10 clothes that I've hoped to get back into for so long that they would be a hit at the "vintage" consignment shop.

We staged the garage with areas for 1) trash, 2) Goodwill, 3) sell and 4) undecided-but-it's-not-going-back-into-the-house. Some items made their way through all four piles while others that I thought I could part with - I couldn't, and hauled back into the house. Sometimes it's hard to let go. At one point, I burst into tears as I unpacked a box from two moves ago and found a small dessert dish with a bunny on it that belonged to my mother. It has a new home - in a display cabinet - inside the house.

Last weekend, we held a garage sale and sold furniture, tools, pictures, nick-knacks, kitchen wares, books and out-dated electronics for next to nothing - probably more than some of it was worth. Looking at the amount of stuff that's left, I wonder if I imagined that the nice young neighbor hauled away 4 tables and the 2 men that spoke not a word of English really took the television, table saw, highchair, old suitcases and folding cot (that we never used).

I've also sorted through all my numismatic collections. Next week is the ANA Summer Seminar at Colorado College and I have boxes of things that I'm donating to the auction that raises money for seminar scholarships. Son John arrives tomorrow to teach at the Summer Seminar and I have a box of things for him to take back to New York and another couple of boxes for him to help me sell.

All this rambling should answer the question why I don't have many pictures to share - even though I haven't written a blog entry in a couple of weeks.

We did take a break for a couple of hours on Sunday and went to an RC event east of town. This cute little chipmunk was watching from the side of a dirt access road.

The RC airplanes were taking off and landing within 10 feet of where this Horned Lark was hunting in the grass for insects.

On the way home we detoured into a lovely upscale community where all the homes had access to the runway of a private airport nearby. It looks odd to see a private jet parked outside the garage!

Back at home, Bill is working on a new remote control model airplane - a float plane. Notice where he tested it to see if it would float. It did and this weekend he is taking it to a lake near Pueblo to test it out. This weekend is also the Pueblo Street Rod Nationals - so we may have to stop and look at the old cars.

We have a beautiful Hibiscus that is just full of buds. I received the plant as a gift from Bill's sister Terri when I retired. Our very good friend, Nancy has taken it home for the past two winters and taken wonderful care of it. Last year, it had bugs and she carefully removed them and treated it with a natural insecticide - now that's a good friend! Thanks Nancy!

This is a baby crow and he hung around the yard for a couple or three days yelling MAW, MAW. She never answered. He could fly - but not well - probably just out of the nest.

Bill took pity on him one of the very hot days and gave him a shower and a drink of fresh water. He's gone now - probably figured out if he wanted to eat, he was going to have to help himself.

On the way to the grocery store, we stopped and watched the Pikes Peak Soapbox Derby for a few minutes.

Dalton was getting last minute directions from his granddad. This is quite an interesting sport for youngsters. The car kits cost just under $1000, but there are lots of sponsors to help defer the costs.

Kyle was one of the younger contestants.

Even good ole Ronald McDonald came out to cheer the kids on.

And the winner at 29.43 seconds is.....

Today is Friday and that means dance class! Bill and I take Line Dancing at the local Senior Center. What a hoot! I don't have a clue what I'm doing - but it's fun and excellent exercise. We are trying to get ready for the Friday night dances back at OTOW.